Internal-combustion engine



April 23, 1946. LE ROY SOHER 2,398,864

, INTERNALLCOMBUSTIQN ENGINE Filed Sept. 26, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NEN TOR. Z5 fir 30%;?

April 23, 1946. LE ROY SOHER I 2,398,864

' INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 26, 1944 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i,H I.

I N VEN TOR. [5/707 Sax E? Arrow 5 Patented Apr. 23, 1946 FENTT OFFICEINTERNAL-COMBUSTION.ENGINE,. Le. Roy Soher, Englewood;lN: 3.

Application September 26, 1944,Serial.No..555,7,84

15 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements ininternal combustion enginesand, more :particu-.

larly, to motors adaptedto use heavy fuel oil.

One object of the invention is a camedriven motor. having one or more.fiXed pistons and moving cylinders and a rotary flywheelcam..structure.

In one of its aspects the present iI'XVEHtiQl'l-COIIl-r prehends theutilization of three or more,.in odd numbers, motor units having fixedpistons and oscillating cylinders in conjunction with-freely rotatableinternal cam-faced fiywheels constituting mechanical impedances.

A further object of the invention is an engine providing a plurality ofexplosions per. revolution of the output shaft.

It is also anobject of the invention to. provide a heavy oil orreciprocating rotor for. use in. a motor havingpreferably, an odd.number of cylinders in which the cylinders of the motor may be cascadedor arranged parallel to one anotherin separate. orsuperimposed strataand angularly disposed with respect to'one another.

Another object of the present inventionis 'to provide a novelmulti-cylinder motor, the several cylinders being mounted forreciprocationpnlfixed pistons containedon a fixed shaft and the:cylinder units intercoupled through freely-rotatable coupling membershaving mechanical inertia.

The cylinders of such a motormay-be three, five, seven or nine innumber, for example,.oras

many as required, whereby a constant pressure is produced on thecamrotors.

With the novel constructionrherein the cam pressure rollers are inconstant contact; .and hammer blows are thereby eliminated so that theunit functions substantially silently. The-motor of this invention is ofan efiiciency-higher than that of the so-called crank-shaft typeof'motorr A further object of the inventionis a motor adaptedto useheavy fuel oil of the Diesel type as distinguished fromonerequiringgasoline as. a motor fuel.

These and other objects of the inventionand the means for their.attainment will be'moreapparent from the following detailed descriptiontakenin connection with the accompanying draw ings illustrating oneembodiment by which the invention may be realized and inwhicht- Fig. 1is an axial sectional View showing the relationship of the cams tothe-motor cylinders and fixed pistons; i

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view-taken in the plane indicated icythe line 2-2 of Fig. ,1, looking in the direction of the arrows andshowing details of the cam structure and the cylinder associatedtherewith;

Fig. 3 is a view taken. in'the plane. indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig.1, looking in.the:direc-.-

tionof the arrowsand showing.

the piston in tend elevation; and V r Fig.4 is a diagrammatic viewshowing a cylindeninfulhlines in one position of its reciprocationand,inrbrokenlines, the relative axialposition-of theother two cylinders,there being illus- 5 trated a progressively increasing lead from onepositionto another andresulting in smooth operation and avoiding deadcenter.

The present tendency to eliminate crank shafts inhi-gh speed motorsresults from theexcessive wear :and tear. caused by the movement ofcrank shafts at high speed; .To overcome such excessive wear, thepresent invention is directed to'camdrivenengine assemblies in which acam-faced fly-Wheel. is driven. directly by either piston; or, astingtheillustrated embodiment, by the cylinder block itself: to avoid. anyreciprocation of moving parts such asacrankshafts, which of. course alsohaverotary components when in motion.

Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a driven shaft l2 which isshownas coupled to the hub M of a terminal cylinder cam-driven flywheelin-. dicatedgenerally at lfi and comprised of a disclike wall section18, seealso 2, onwhich is carried the cam wallor surfacezll, Axially,the cam disc.FBcisfQrmed-With a cylindrical recess 22. definedhyacylindrical wall 24. The recess '22 re ceivesone end of an'axiallyextending fixed shaft 26.-eXtending'the length of the engine and servingasithelcarrying. element for. the structure providingthe exhaustmanifold :28 and intake manifold SOsand'their respective valvestructures serving as intake valves 32- andexhaustvalves 34 for therespecti episton and cylinder structures. The other end of the shaft, ofcourse, issimilarly received in a similar. cylindrical. recess formed ina cam disc flywheel in the other end of the engine, not shown, butconveniently similar to that illustrated in. the upper member 24 ofFig. 1. It will be-llndEistOOd,

of course, that suitable provision, common'in the l 40, art, may beprovided to evacuate products of combustionifromthe; exhaust manifold 28and to deliver fuelto. the intake manifold 39.

.W'hileit is contemplated that the simplest form of. the. engine formingthe subject matter of this inventionwouldbe comprised of threecylinders, only two suchcylinders are illustrated, it beingunderstoodthat any number of cylinders, and preferably any ,oddnumber,of cylinders, may be utilizedin.theustructure wherein the elements, asillustrated, are reproducedin the general an rangement anddispositionillustratedby the exemplification of-Fig. 1. Referring now to thecylinder 35 .illustratedat thetop of Fig. 1 which is, exemplary-of allof.the cylinders, the ends of the cy1inders-35 are-provided with pins 3!-on which are' mountedrollers 38 adapted to bear against the camrwallz 0as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Eachicylinder: is thus reciprocable acrossthe axis of shaft 25 and comprises an elongated tubularintennediate-portion 39 and opposite end lugs '40 and exhaust manifoldsand the intake and exhaust valves. Integral with the fixed shaft orotherwise secured thereto are a plurality of pistons 45, one of which isdisposed in each cylinder. Each piston is fixed, it being apparent thatthe cylinder block will be caused to reciprocate 0n the fixed piston byreason of the explosive action of the gases in the piston acting on asurface 41 of the'cylinder and thereby causing the rollers 38 to bearagainst the cam wall 20, the thrust thereon causing the cam wall and thediscor flywheel H! to turn. 7

The piston is so disposed as to terminate preetermined distances fromthe respective end walls of the cylinder to provide, at one end, acombustion chamber within which the charge may be compressed and, at theother end, the piston is usually spaced a considerable distance from theend of the cylinder in accordance with the path of movement of thecylinder when reciprocated under the influence of the exploding gases.As shown, each piston is provided with two longitudinally extendingpassages 48, 49. illustrated as having frusto-conical ends 50 andcommunicating centrally of the piston with valve;

chambers 52 in which are mounted the valves 32, 34 controlling theintake and exhaust from each cylinder through the intake passage and'theexhaust passage respectively. Thus, as illustrated at the upper pistonin Fig; 1, the intake passage 30 is closed by the valve element 32 andthe exhaust valve 34 in the other passage 28 is open,

whereby products of combustion may be evacuated. The valves are mountedon the valve-actuating shaft 56 axially disposed within the shaft 26.The slots M through which the cylinders clear shaft 26 are closed inpart by sleeves 58, the length of which is sufficient to at all timesover-- lap the ends of the fixed pistons 46, thereby preventing theescape of products of combustion or fuel during operation.

The intermediate cam discs or flywheels, one of which is illustrated infull at B0, are formed with cam tracks 29 upon opposite faces, two camtracks for the respective opposite cam members being angle of thrust orpressure angle will, of course, vary. The cam rotors illustrated aredevised for four-cycle operations, that is, in each complete rotation ofa cam rotor, the associated cylinder will have completed two completecycles of explosion, scavenging, intake and compression. As thecylinders 35 oscillate back and forth on the fixed piston 46, chamber48, say, Will have a first charge introduced therein, which iscompressed and then ignited, following which it is scavenged and a newcycle repeated.

The superposition ofthe motor units, one above another, permits simpleconstruction, and the use of quickly interchangeable parts, togetherwith the added feature that the parts are of extremely light weight sothat the overall weight of a unit is greatly reduced compared withsimilar units of like horsepower wherein crank shafts are used. At thesame time, the cam track carrying discs serve as effective flywheels.The flywheels are coupled in cascade through the intermediate cylindersand form the sole power connection between the several cylinders.Additionally, it willbe seen that as the non-rotating cylinders or motorunits are coupled through flywheels mounted for free rotation on acommon fixed shafhand the flywheels have mechanical inertia,'they willform, in effect, a viscous power coupling between the several motorunits, and the momentum of the intercoupled flywheels will insure anautomatic wipe-out of mechanical variations, due to speed or otherwise,in any or all of the motive units. The system, therefore, isself-compensating, due to its nature and substance, and due to theflexible intercoupling of multiple mechanical impedances comprisingflywheels arranged in cascade, that is, arranged to deliver power fromone to the other and not to a common output shaft.

It Will now be appreciated that there has been provided a novel motorassembly in which a multiple motor unit is composed of members arrangedone above the other and in which cylinders oscillateon fixed pistons andthe cylinders engage cam surfaces of cam rotors in constant engagementso that no play between parts is possible; By the use of an odd numberof cylinders in an assembly, the power factors are evenly distributedover the whole unit and no play is introduced into and between theparts.

It will be apparent that one of the cylinders illustrated, with a pistontherein and wherein the explosions occur successively at opposite endsdefined by a-cential transverse wall or septum ezrormm the dividingelement between parts of the cam-faced flywheels or discs which areassociated with the respective adjacent motor units.

It will thus be seen that the disposition of the cylinders is such thatthere is one cylinder in each plane and the cylinders are equiangularlyspaced about the'common fixed shaft so as to provide uniform pressure onthe cams of the fly wheel assembly. Cam contour may be readilydetermined to accomplish the results desired. In Fig. 4 there isdiagrammatically represented the relative position of the threecylinders of the engine illustrated in Fig. 1 during one revolutionofthe output'shaft l2. Thus, when the uppermost cylinder occupies thefull-line position in Fig. 4, the other two cylinders should occupy theposition indicated by the center line and rollersshown in dotted lines,the lag of the respective cylinders being diagrammatically illustratedby the broken lines;

'In five,

of the cylinder, may be readily utilized as an engine reciprocating on asingle axis and serving as the motive power of many devices as, forinstance, a reciprocating pump.

Details of the feed and exhaust are not shown as these are common in theart.

Various modifications will occur to those skilled in the art in theconfiguration, disposition and number of cylinders incorporated inthestructure as well as the fuel feed and exhaust, and

no limitation is intended by the phraseology of the foregoingdescription or illustrations in the accompanying drawing except asindicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: V V

'lfA multiple cylinder engine, comprising an array of superposed motorunits radially displaced with respect to each other in multiple planes,a, common fixed shaft, each said motor unit comprising a fixed pistonmounted on said common shaft, a 'reciprocable cylinder carried with eachpiston, cam rotors, means'to mount said cam rotors for rotation on saidfixed shaft, said rotors havingcam faces and driving connections betweenthe reciprocating cylinders and the cam faces forming cascade powercouplings of the several rotors.

2. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising an array of superposed motorunits angularly displaced'with respect to each other in multiple planes,a common fixed shaft, each said motor unit comprising a fixed pistonmounted on said common shaft, an oscillatable cylinder block receivingeach piston, flywheel comprising cam rotors, means to mount saidflywheel or rotors for free rotation on said shaft, said rotors havinginternal cam faces, and functioning as flywheels, and drivingconnections between the oscillating cylinder block and the cam facescomprising rollers mounted on the ends of the cylinders and operativelyengaging the cam faces.

3. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising an array of superposed motorunits radially displaced with respect to each other, a common fixedshaft, each said motor unit comprising a fixed piston mounted on saidcommon shaft, an oscillatable cylinder block carried with each piston,flywheels comprising cam rotors, means to mount said flywheels or rotorsfor free rotation on said shaft, said rotors having cam faces, anddriving connections between the oscillating cylinders and i the camfaces comprising rollers mounted on the ends of the cylinder blocksandoperatively engaging the cam faces.

4. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising an array of an odd number ofsuperposed motor units angularly disposed with respect to each other ona common fixed shaft, each said motor unit comprising a fixed pistonmounted on said common shaft, an oscillatable cylinder mounted on eachpiston, flywheels having cam means mounted for free rotation on theshaft, said cam means having cam faces, and driving connections betweenthe oscillating cylinders and the cam faces.

5. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising an array of an odd number ofmotor units angu larly disposed with respect to each other at differentangular relations, each said motor unit including a fixed piston mountedon a common fixed shaft, an oscillatable cylinder on each piston, a pairof cam-faced flywheel rotors mounted for rotation on the shaft and onthe respective sides of the said cylinders, said rotors having internalcam faces, and rollers mounted on the ends of the cylinders andoperatively engaging the cam faces.

6. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising superposed motor unitsangularly disposed with respect to each other, each said motor unitcom-.

prising a fixed piston, an oscillatable cylinder on each piston, a pairof cam rotors mounted for rotation on the shaft, the rotors betweenadjacent cylinders being unitary and doublefaced, said rotors havinginternal cam faces, driving connections between the oscillatingcylinders and the cam faces comprising rollers mounted on the ends ofthe cylinders and operatively engaging the cam faces, a fixed shaft,fuel inlet and exhaust conduits and conduit controls.

7. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising superposed motor unitsangularly disposed with respect to each other, each said motor unitcomprising a fixed piston transversely mounted on a common fixed shaft,an oscillatable cylinder mounted on each piston, power-coupling meansbetween adjacent motor units comprising a pair I of cam rotors mountedfor rotation on the shaft and on both sides of the said cylinders, therotors between adjacent cylinders being unitary and comprising cams onremote faces thereof, said rotors functioning as flywheels, and drivingconnections between the oscillating cylinders and the cam faces.

8. A multiple cylinder engine, comprising superposed motor unitsangularly disposed with respect to each other, each said motor unitcomprising a fixed piston mounted on a common shaft, an oscillatablecylinder mounted on each piston, a pair of cam rotors mounted forrotation on the shaft and on both sides of the said cylinders, therotors between adjacent cylinders being unitary and comprising cams onremote faces thereof, said rotors functioning as flywheels, drivingconnections between the oscillating cylinders and the cam faces, andfuel inlet and exhaust conduits and controls in the said fixed shaft andpistons.

9. In an engine of the character described, in combination, a fixedpiston, a relatively movable cylinder, shaft means on which the pistonis mounted,.inlet and exhaust passages in said shaft means,communicating connections between said passages and said cylinder, and aflywheel rotated by said cylinder, i

10. In an engine of the character described, in combination, a drivenoutput shaft, hub means on which the shaft is mounted, said hub meanscomprising a cylindrical bearing formed in a cam-faced rotor, a fixedshaft in the bearing, a piston fixed on the shaft, fuel inlet means forthe piston, a cylinder reciprocable on the piston, and means carried bythe cylinder to actuate the cam means.

11. In an engine of the character described, in combination, a fixedpiston, a cylinder reciprocable on the fixed piston, fuel inlet meansfor the piston, and exhaust means for the piston whereby successiveexplosions of fuel respectively at opposite ends of the cylinder willcause reciprocation of the cylinder.

12. In an engine of the character described, in combination, a fixedpiston, a cylinder recipe rocable on the fixed piston, fuel inlet meansfor the piston, exhaust means for the piston where by successiveexplosions of fuel respectively at opposite ends of the cylinder willcause reciprocation of the cylinder, and operative connections betweenthe cylinder and work performing means. 7

13. In an engine of the character described, in

, combination, a plurality of oscillatable cylinder blocks mounted foroscillation on fixed pistons, a fixed shaft on which the pistons aremounted, the pistons being equiangularly disposed around the shaft andarranged in multiple planes, mechanical impedances mounted for rotationon the fixed shaft and rotatable by the said reciprocating cylinders,the said impedances constituting prising internal cam-faced flywheelsforming viscous couplings between the cylinder units. LE ROY SOHER.

